all the information, none of the junk | biotech • healthcare • life sciences

Biogen Aims to Reduce PML Risk

Weston, MA-based biotech Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Elan, its Dublin-based partner, have asked U.S. and European health regulators to approve a new prescribing label for the companies’ multiple sclerosis drug natalizumab (Tysabri) in an effort to reduce the risk of a potentially lethal brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PLM) in patients who take the treatment, according to a press release. The requested prescribing label would include whether a patient who is being considered for natalizumab treatment has an anti-viral antibody whose presence is one of multiple factors that help doctors tell whether or she is at risk of developing PML.